"We're best friends." Myra stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which, considering their current position, it was.
"I mean, how did you two meet?" asked Silversin. "You know, being as you are a human and all."
Myra sucked in a bit of air. "Oh. Well, we met on campus at the college we attend. Had lunch together every day for almost a year now."
"Reeeally?" Silversin drug out the word, emphasizing her skepticism while pacing around the room a bit, ending up at the twin side-table to the one Sam was leaning against. She strummed her fingers on its surface. "Berkham, I think you have some explaining to do. Starting off with why you have broken your sworn oath, which included never leaving this property until Sam or I came to relieve you of your duty. And while you're talking, why not explain the bandit gang you seem to be heading."
"And why there is a thick layer of dust on everything I own," added Sam, Who was currently staring at the hand he had just lifted off of his table.
Berkham rubbed his eyebrows with his free hand. "I was a practically a child when I made that oath. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I thought that it would impress Sam if he came home to see how well I had taken care of his possessions and land. Everyone knows how much I looked up to these three."
"That's the understatement of the century," Dru mumbled to his red eyed friend.
"His enthusiasm obviously didn't translate into cleanliness," Meris whispered back, while glancing at Sam, who was still staring at his hand.
Berkham continued. "At first it wasn't so bad. I kept myself busy, and invited people over to visit when I needed to socialize. But then, the Zizazu attacks on the nation's western border began to increase dramatically."
"I don't remember hearing anything about that," said Silversin.
"That doesn't surprise me much. Waterhouse village is pretty much a pocket-society, thanks to you."
Silversin blushed slightly. "I'll take that as a compliment, if you don't mind."
"As you wish," he replied. "So, back to my story. Because of the attacks, many western trade routes shut down, causing the economy to falter. The ultimate results of which forced me to fire the entire staff taking care of the estate. On top of that, supplies were low, and all my friends stopped visiting because they were afraid to travel. I was practically alone here for the larger part of a century."
"So you formed a band of robbers, and started taking classes at some random human University, because you were lonely?" Lilla asked. "I think all that time alone did something screwy to your head."
Her statement didn't faze Berkham in the least. "You're probably right, but I actually have some pretty good reasons behind my actions."
"So says the man wearing a belt around his head," Meris stage whispered to Dru.
"Hey, don't mock the crazy man," breathed Dru. "He could be hiding a power boosting third eye under there."
"If he is, it's probably drawn on." They both snickered at Meris's last statement.
Their comments finally annoyed Myra enough that she asked Silversin to construct a silencing barrier around the two teasing demons. Or, in her words, "put a dome of silence over the peanut gallery." Instead of doing as Myra asked, Silversin assured her that a much easier solution would be to mentally block them out, as everyone else had done long before. However, Berkham felt the need to support his dear friend, and offered to kick the offenders out of the house.
This suggestion was followed by a faint growling sound heard from Sam's corner of the room. "You do not have the authority to remove them. Remember, this is still my home."
"I'd say that after three hundred years, I have some sort of squatting rights," Berkham snapped back.
"You have no 'rights' here," Sam retorted. "Only my good graces. Which, considering the state of things, are not very high." The icy stares that came from the two males seemed to shoot across the parlor, and collide in the center of the room. Myra could feel a chill run up her spine.
"S-so then what happened?" she asked, trying to break up the animosity in the room.
Noticing her discomfort, Berkham held her closer to him. "Why don't we take this discussion into the yard," he suggested to everyone. "I was out earlier this morning and found the south gardens looking particularly lovely right now."
Myra looked out the French doors behind them. Either all the snow had decided to blow right up against the paned glass, or there was a raging blizzard going on outside. "Um, are you sure we should go out there?" she asked. "It looks kind of cold."
Berkham smiled at her comment. "I am glad to hear that my sister and her friends have not completely exploited you to all forms of magic," he said while leading her to the door.
After picking her up and quickly carrying her through the deep snow, Berkham reached a great walled garden. When they went inside, the plants were abundant and full of life, and the climate was as balmy as an early summer afternoon. He escorted his guests through the garden and invited everyone to sit on the stone benches in a round seating area. When they were seated and comfortable, Berkham continued his tale.
"About forty years ago I received a visit from some very well connected government personnel. Actually, they were looking for you, Sam," he addressed the amethyst eyed demon.
Everyone looked at Sam in bewilderment.
"Did you do something to anger the government as well?" Silversin asked him.
"Not that I am aware."
"I had my suspicions as to why they had come," Berkham said. "All that time alone here led me to discovering more than a few secrets about its former inhabitants."
A small squeak was heard from over by the snapdragons. Everyone turned to see Lilla grinning from ear to ear. The she-elf had always enjoyed learning about others' secrets. "What did you find out?" she asked in a high pitched tone.
Berkham grinned. "Well, Lilla, you of course remember all of those spontaneous, random vacations that Sam would take with Meris and Dru, don't you?"
"Sure," she replied. "I was one of the groupies that followed them. Except, we didn't call them vacations. It was more like tours of superstars."
Nodding in agreement, Berkham said, "Yes, Sam did an excellent job of disguising his true motivations, but the truth is; not all of your fellow groupies were just that, and the trips were anything but random."
Lilla, at some unknown point, had obtained a bag of bite-sized candies. She was now shoving them into her mouth at rapid speed while staring intently at Berkham, completely enthralled by his story. "Go on," she urged.
"I think, that quite enough has been said already," Sam announced while giving Berkham another icy glare.
Finally piecing everything together, Myra could not help but blurt out, "Wow, Sam, are you a secret agent or something?"
Sam did his minuscule eye roll. "No, I am simply loyal to my government, and willing to help protect the honest people they represent."
"I never knew he could be so humble about something," she whispered to Berkham.
Her best friend smirked at her comment and whispered back, "Humble? I think you should see his trophy room before you start calling him that."
"Is that why those people came?" Silversin asked. "To ask Sam to aid the government again?"
"Yes, but this time he would be using a drastically less high-profile manner. Someone was needed to discreetly infiltrate a particular human city and gather information about possible Zizazu activity that had been rumored."
"The city that Myra is from," Sam concluded. "And therefore, the main reason that the government intended to ask for my assistance was because mine is the closest residence to a trans-dimensional portal which connects to that human city."
Silversin's eyes tightened by a fraction. "You told me that no one but you and I knew about that portal."
"That was true, as far as I knew," he responded.
"What about the Kidegos and the old women?" Berkham asked with a tilt of his head.
Sam shrugged, "They must have come sometime in the last three hundred years."
"That is interesting," Berkham mused. But he quickly snapped back to attention. "Anyway, after I found out the reason they came, I also suspected that the government only chose Sam for the task because of his location. That (and the fact that I was bored beyond reason) is why I offered to take the job in his place. Of course, there were quite a few things that needed to be done beforehand. The two major tasks: building the tunnel from the house to the portal, and hiring a staff to take care of the estate while I was gone, turned out to be easily solved with the same group of people."
"Bandits," Meris's voice was almost disbelieving. "You hired bandits to, not only build a tunnel, but also tend to the manor?"
His fox-eared friend chided him sarcastically, "Why not? Haven't you ever heard of 'The Bandit Staffing Agency'? I hear they are quite good, if they don't rob you blind."
"There wasn't really much to choose from, in the area," Berkham admitted. "But if it is any condolence, the original staff was a bit more...mannerly. The ones now, their children and grandchildren, have grown more wild as the years go by. Yet, they are still completely loyal to me."
"Does the government not oppose the bandit activity?" Silversin asked.
Berkham scoffed. "The government is too distracted by other things to bother with us. And they are therefore letting us continue our activities as a sort of payment for my work."
"What is it you do exactly?" His older sister inquired, "You say that you were supposed to gather information, but from what I've ascertained, you seem to have been spending a lot of time with Myra as well."
"From time to time," he answered casually. "Lately it is because a great amount of Zizazu activity has been circulating around her."
"Tam'itu," Dru swore in the demon tongue under his breath, "I wish the government would give me an assignment where I got to chat-up Myra every day."
Berkham scowled, "I was not 'chatting her up.' We just talked. Unlike you, I do not spontaneously try to take advantage of everyone I come into contact with."
"I don't do that," Dru pouted.
Berkham was not convinced. "Yes you do, and we all know it," he motioned to the rest of the group. "I would bet that the first thing you did when you met Myra was try to seduce her in some way. You probably even tried to kiss her."
Dru smirked, "Did a little more than 'tried'."
In the brief moments that followed, Berkham's face turned pale white, and then bright red. "What!" he yelled. He then looked at Myra. "Did you allow him to-"
"I didn't mean to," Myra answered quickly. "He glomped me, and then started using his wacko charming powers on me. I didn't really have a choice."
Looking back at Dru, Berkham growled. "How dare you force yourself upon an innocent girl like that? And not just any girl, but my-Myra."
Seeing the dangerous aura that now surrounded their host, Dru decided to defuse the situation in the best way that he knew, by passing the blame. "Sam kissed her too!" he shouted, "and Meris."
"Barely!" Meris defended himself. He was talking to Dru more than anyone else. "I'm still questioning as to whether there was even contact. But I know I saw you kiss her at least twice."
Meanwhile, Berkham and Sam and been having another intense staring war. But once he heard the last statement by Meris, Berkham looked once more at the other two males. After a few minutes, his shoulders drooped and his body relaxed. He seemed at ease with himself.
"I thought of something. Would you excuse us for a moment?" Berkham said while pulling Myra away from the others so that the two were slightly concealed by a butterfly bush. He spoke to her in quiet tones.
Myra's eyes widened at something he said. "Are you serious?" she asked him, loud enough that everyone heard. "Don't tell me you came up with this idea just now."
He gently grabbed her elbow, pulling her a bit closer to himself, and looked straight into her eyes. "I am completely serious. And I've been thinking about it for some time now. So, what do you say?"
Tweaking her mouth slightly to the side, and furrowing her eyebrows, Myra made a soft humming noise as she thought. "Mmm... okay."
"Okay? Do you mean 'yes'?"
She smiled. "Yes."
"Then it is decided," Berkham said, looping an arm around her and pulling her back over to the others. "None of you are ever allowed to kiss Myra ever again. Not you," he said pointing to Dru, "not you," he pointed to Meris. His finger and blazing gaze then fell upon Sam, "and especially not you."
Sam's face remained blank, "believe me when I say that I wouldn't let the thought of it haunt my nightmares."
Meris and Dru turned to each other with confused looks, apparently having another one of their silent conversations. Then in unison they looked over at the couple.
"What..."
"...is going on?"
Myra blushed. Berkham smiled at them smugly.
Sam, who's ever keen ears heard all of the previous conversation between Myra and Berkham, answered for them. "The brat just asked the wench to marry him."
"No..." Dru breathed, looking very pale.
"Yes," Meris replied. "She said 'yes'." It was obvious that he was holding back tears, but he did not let them show. Sniffing quietly, he squared his shoulders and offered his hand to Berkham.
"Congratulations," he said while they shook hands.
Dru, on the other hand, was not handling the situation quite as eloquently as his red-eyed friend. "Why?" he sobbed. "Why have you abandoned me darling? And for him? What does he have that I don't?"
Myra was about to reassure him that it was not his lack of merits that prevented her from choosing him, but someone answered for her.
"Honesty," Sam said, bluntly.
"Integrity," Lilla, added.
"And a bit less of that pent up rage you are so poor at disguising," Berkham concluded while raising his brows at the fox demon.
Slightly shocked, Myra stayed silent. Does Dru really have problems with all of those things? I never noticed.
There was a brief silence while Dru sulked. Then Sam slapped his hands on his knees and stood up. "I am satisfied with all of the information you have supplied thus far," he told Berkham. "And I intend to receive a more detailed report at a later time, concerning the welfare of my estate. But I until then, I plan to relieve three hundred years of stress by taking a well deserved nap. I will be in my chambers where I do not wish to be disturbed." He turned to leave.
"Wait!" Silversin called after him. "What about that demon, Aldakai? Shouldn't we figure out what do with that situation first? In case anything happens while you are asleep?" Sam was about to wave off her concerns when Berkham spoke.
"Aldakai..." he pondered while rubbing the end of his head-shash. "Why does that name sound familiar? Oh, wait. Tall, dark hair and eyes, and a big freaky facial tattoo? Is that the same person?" he asked Sam Looking back over his shoulder, Sam gave a hesitant nod.
Berkham continued, "Yea, she's come by a couple of times looking for you, Sam. I talked to her for a while the second time she came. A really neat girl once you get to know her. I told her that you were on an extended business trip (very extended), but she didn't believe me. She seemed to think that you were avoiding her because she asked you out."
"Asked you out?" Silversin turned to Sam She was starting to get a crazy look in her eyes. "You lead me to believe that Aldakai was some sort of all-powerful demon who was threatening the lives of you and your kinfolk. Had I'd known she only wanted to go out on a date, I would have handled things quite differently."
"Listen," Sam gave a defiant frown. "Aldakai is an extremely powerful demon, not to mention intimidating and creepy. There was no way I was going to tell her 'no' to her face." He directed his statement solely to Silversin. "And if I had told you the truth, you would have most likely come up with some ridiculous scheme involving you and I posing as a couple."
Silversin gave a slightly disappointed huff at being so predictable, while her brother laughed at her expense for the same reason. But Meris and Dru were looking extremely hurt.
"I can't believe you didn't tell us." Meris said with misty eyes. "We're your best friends. Don't you trust us at all?"
"With my life, most definitely," said Sam, with a straight face. "But with a secret such as this?" He paused. "Meris, you tell everything to Dru. And the only secrets Dru can keep are his own."
Meris's expression softened a bit, and Dru said, "Well, that may be true... but still, it wasn't very nice."
"I do not recall ever claiming to be a 'nice' creature." Sam said while crossing his arms. "The two of you need to accept the fact that even your closest friends may hurt you at times."
"I couldn't have said it better myself," said Lilla, with a conniving grin.
Sam gave her a look that said, "Explain yourself."
The maroon haired elf circled around him; almost dancing in her movements. "You see, while Meris and Dru where distract-I mean, talking with you, Silversin and I were having a little mental 'chat' of our own."
"We determined," continued Silversin, "that you have caused all of us a great deal of unneeded trouble. And the most appropriate way to redeem yourself would be for you to accept that date with Aldakai." Quickly she formed a barrier around him.
Sam's normal lack of expression did not falter and Myra suspected that he was not intimidated by his situation. But upon closer inspection, she observed that he was ever so slightly shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Meanwhile, Berkham let out a burst of laughter. "How witty of you, sister. But are you sure it's a good idea to force your crush to go out on a date with another woman? He may actually learn to like her."
"Crush?" Silversin gulped. "W-what do you mean?" Everyone gave her the same "we already know" kind of look, and she fumbled with her words to explain. "Well, p-perhaps in the past I had a slight affinity toward him." Now everyone rolled their eyes. "But as of late I have begun to see him differently and no longer hold such strong feelings for him." The confidence in her voice confirmed that her statement was true.
"Well, it's about time," mumbled Dru. "Maybe she'll leave us alone now."
"I would not get my hopes up if I were you," commented Sam. Dru gave him a confused look.
It was at this time that Myra, who had been quietly observing, spoke up. "Um, Sam?"
"What?" he replied in an irritated tone.
"I was wondering why you couldn't just read Lilla and Silversin's minds and find out that they were plotting against you? Or is it because Silversin is so much more powerful than you?"
"First, I do not appreciate you referring to me as a weakling." Myra tried to deny this, but he cut her off. "And second, as stated before, I do not have the ability to read others' thoughts."
"You've finished my sentences and predicted my thoughts far too often for me to believe that," said Myra.
"You can be adorably predictable." Berkham said while giving her a little peck on the cheek.
"And you do have rather loud thoughts," commented Silversin.
"Yes, and she doesn't seem to realize how incredibly irritating they sound," Sam growled.
"I think they sound lovely." said Berkham, pulling her closer.
Sam rolled his eyes. "You would."
End